Health News
- Effort To Boost Oral Health In Nursing Homes Gets Tangled Up With Industry's Attempt To Insulate Itself From Lawsuits; Both Bills Die
A bill to get nursing-home residents better dental services "appears to be dead after the Senate added language from another bill designed to shield the nursing-home industry from litigation," Deborah Yetter reports for The Courier-Journal. House Bill...
- Smoking Ban Can't Get A Vote Due To Republican Boycott Over Chairman's Block Of Measure For Drug Tests For Welfare Recipients
There could have been a vote Thursday on a bill for a statewide smoking ban, but a Republican boycott of the Democratic-controlled House Health and Welfare Committee over another bill prevented that. "Republicans were upset over the committee chairman's...
- Death Of Personal-care Home Resident Has Lawmakers From His Hometown Talking About Stricter Staffing Rules
The death of a missing personal-care home resident has a bipartisan pair of Kentucky lawmakers from his home town of talking about setting staffng standards for Kentucky's personal-care homes or even nursing homes, which have successfully lobbied...
- Board For Nursing-home Administrators Wants A Law To Let It Issue Secret Admonitions; Bill Is In Jeopardy
A bill that was introduced late and got a fast start, but has hit speed bumps and maybe a roadblock, would allow the Kentucky Board of Licensure for Nursing Home Administrators to admonish them in secret without the action being "considered a disciplinary...
- Beshear Backs Bills To Protect Seniors From Abuse But Doesn't Endorse Minimum Staffing For Nursing Homes
Gov. Steve Beshear today endorsed a package of previously introduced bills that he said would give the elderly and other adults more protection against abuse and exploitation, but it did not include a bill to set minimum staffing standards for nursing...
Health News
Cost is one obstacle for bill that would require coroners to look into nursing home deaths
A bill that would require coroners to be called when someone dies in a nursing home may be in jeopardy. At issue is how to pay for it.
Chief State Medical Examiner Tracey Corey estimates she would need three more doctors, more support staff and more equipment if even 10 percent of deaths needed investigation, the Lexington Herald-Leader's Valarie Honeycutt-Spears reports.
House Bill 69, sponsored by Rep. Tom Burch, D-Louisville, right, would require a nursing home or hospice staff member to alert a coroner about a death on the premises within 24 hours. If they, and they alone, suspect abuse, coroners would be required to inform law enforcement authorities or prosecutors. The aim is to determine if abuse or neglect might have occurred.
"But Burch said if Corey's financial concerns lead to the bill being sent to the committee making decisions about state spending, he think it 'means sudden death' for the legislation," Honeycutt-Spears reports.
Burch also said nursing home officials are balking at the bill's aim to increase the penalties for failing to report abuse or neglect. As of now, such a failure is considered a Class B misdemeanor, which carries a punishment of up to 90 days in jail and a $250 fine. The bill would change it to a Class A misdemeanor, which can result in up to 12 months in jail and a fine up to $500.
The bill would also mean long-term care facilities that fail to designate a staff member to report deaths to the coroner would be fined $200 a week. (Read more)
- Effort To Boost Oral Health In Nursing Homes Gets Tangled Up With Industry's Attempt To Insulate Itself From Lawsuits; Both Bills Die
A bill to get nursing-home residents better dental services "appears to be dead after the Senate added language from another bill designed to shield the nursing-home industry from litigation," Deborah Yetter reports for The Courier-Journal. House Bill...
- Smoking Ban Can't Get A Vote Due To Republican Boycott Over Chairman's Block Of Measure For Drug Tests For Welfare Recipients
There could have been a vote Thursday on a bill for a statewide smoking ban, but a Republican boycott of the Democratic-controlled House Health and Welfare Committee over another bill prevented that. "Republicans were upset over the committee chairman's...
- Death Of Personal-care Home Resident Has Lawmakers From His Hometown Talking About Stricter Staffing Rules
The death of a missing personal-care home resident has a bipartisan pair of Kentucky lawmakers from his home town of talking about setting staffng standards for Kentucky's personal-care homes or even nursing homes, which have successfully lobbied...
- Board For Nursing-home Administrators Wants A Law To Let It Issue Secret Admonitions; Bill Is In Jeopardy
A bill that was introduced late and got a fast start, but has hit speed bumps and maybe a roadblock, would allow the Kentucky Board of Licensure for Nursing Home Administrators to admonish them in secret without the action being "considered a disciplinary...
- Beshear Backs Bills To Protect Seniors From Abuse But Doesn't Endorse Minimum Staffing For Nursing Homes
Gov. Steve Beshear today endorsed a package of previously introduced bills that he said would give the elderly and other adults more protection against abuse and exploitation, but it did not include a bill to set minimum staffing standards for nursing...